In the last article of Eindhoven Elections, your vote counts, I will explain how to vote! Read on to find out about the voting card, booth locations and voting days.
At least two weeks before the elections, you will receive a personal voting card (‘Stempas’) in your mailbox, sent by Gemeente Eindhoven. On the voting card, you can see which polling station is the closest to your home. You can also vote at other polling stations in the city, as long as they are located in Eindhoven.
On the voting days, you take the voting card and your passport or identity card to the polling station. The booth officers will give you a ballot card (‘Stembiljet’) after verifying your documents. This is a big piece of paper that shows the parties that are participating and the names of all the candidates. Seventeen political parties are participating in the municipal elections this year. Each party has a column on the ballot card, including the names of all the potential councillors for their party.
You take this ballot card to the polling booth and with a red pencil, you can cross the little square beside the name of the candidate you want to vote for. After the elections, all the votes will be counted. Then we know which political parties will be in the city council, and how many seats each of them gets.
The parties that are going to collaborate with each other, the so-called coalition, will make
agreements for the coming four years in a so-called ‘coalition agreement’. In this agreement, you can read which plans the coalition has for Eindhoven for the upcoming years.
Besides voting, you can get involved in local politics in many ways. For example, by using your right to speak as a citizen before a debate, by joining a brainstorm, starting a citizen’s initiative, joining a political party or following the city council on social media.
But first things first. I hope I have inspired you to let your voice be heard. Go vote for the municipal elections on the 16th of March*, and decide in what kind of city you want to live in. #Every vote counts.
* Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, early voting is possible this year. This means that if it feels safer for you to vote at a quieter moment, you are also able to cast your vote on March 14, 15 and 16. But some locations are open only on the 16 of March. So please check beforehand.
For Eindhoven News: Eva de Bruijn (25), social designer and city council member for GroenLinks in Eindhoven
